Perseus Jackson: Praetor of the 15th Apollinaris Legion
by RevengeRoman
Summary: Perseus Jackson: Praetor of the 15th Apollinaris Legion, is leading his men to New Mexico for their Winter station. After being attacked for no apparent reason, and besieged in a forest somewhere on the American East Coast, Percy must make a decision. Will Percy save his Legion? Follow him and his fellow Romans, as they fight on a new front in the war against Kronos! Pertemis
1. The Calm isn't as Calm as it Seems

Percy could taste the dirt in his mouth. His ears rang with the sound of a thousand foot steps as his legion marched in time.

He liked this forest, it was calm and peaceful. This was one part of the yearly march from New York to New Mexico that he didn't really mind. Little did Percy know, this forest would claim the lives of more of his legion than he would like to admit to.

As they marched along, Percy heard a hunting horn and smiled. The Huntresses of Diana were usually friendly with Percy and his Legion, especially because he had Priests/Priestesses for each god/goddess. One in each of the ten cohorts, with the exception of the first cohort, which represented the Big Three.

The Priestess of Diana, a short, brown haired girl from the Seventh cohort ran forward to greet her goddess. What happened next, surprised him to say the least.

Two flaming carts rolled down the side of the hill to his left, crashing into the eighth cohort. Lara, the Priestess of Diana, was shot in the calf. She went down, unconscious almost immediately. Then more and more arrows poured out of the forest.

Percy took action. "Legion! Testudo formation, NOW!" Of course, only the first cohort, the ones in his immediate vicinity, could hear him.

Luckily, the Legion Signifer, Lewis, a boy of average height, although massively built in the chest, with a golden horn strapped across his abdomen. Had heard his order, he blew a series of notes into the horn, and Percy began to hear the yells of each cohorts Centurions and Optio's, trying to get them into formation.

After getting into formation, the Huntresses arrows storm began to whither away, gradually at first, before disappearing altogether. But Percy wasn't foolish enough to believe that they were gone, he kept the Legion in Testudo and moved them slowly along the winding dirt roads of the forest and to a clearing that they made their camp in usually around this time of year.

Once they got there, he had the Second, Third, and Fourth Cohorts break formation, as well as the Eighth considering it was severely under strength, losing almost 40 men in the engagement, and they began construction of a Night Time Fort.

Construction took two hours, but once it was done, their small Fort had the capability of holding back anything short of a small army.

- Time Skip -

Percy was sitting quietly in his tent, right in the middle of camp, he was tapping the table rhythmically and staring at the Casualty Report for the day. He had lost 71 Legionaries... almost 60 of which were from the Eighth Cohort.

As he looked through the names, his face got grimmer and grimmer. He knew and had trained most of those kids, he was going to get to the bottom of this attack, if it was the last thing he did. He got up and started walking through camp, the legionaries saluting him occasionally as he went by.

He walked up to the armory and walked inside, picking up one of the more badly damaged shields and examining it. After a few minutes, he pulled one of the six arrows that were embedded in it's thick wood and hide exterior, out.

It was obviously one of the Huntresses arrows, there was no denying it, no other warrior had the capability of using arrows like this. But why would Diana attack him? And shoot her own Priestess?

He had just finished these thoughts when a young legionary, Aaron, from the 5th Cohort, came running in. "Percy, Zoe and Phoebe are outside the West gates, they want to talk to you."

Percy jogged with the legionary to the West gate, climbing the short dirt walls of the camp and looking down at the two huntresses, Zoe stepped forward and spoke. "Brother, why did you attack us? We did nothing to you!" That was his Sister... Always straight to the point...

"We did not attack you, why were we ambushed?" They both paused glaring at each other for a moment. "So wait a second, something doesn't add up, you said we attacked you first? But I haven't ordered any attacks on you. What happened to you guys? Were you attacked?" She snorted. "Duh! Three Huntresses had their throats slit two nights ago. They were sentries at our Camp, one of your men left a bloody Gladius behind!"

Percy immediately knew what happened. "Zoe, three nights ago, we had five Gladii go missing from our armory." She too understood what he was thinking. He continued. "Come inside the camp, we need to discuss this."

She hesitated for a moment, then relented. "Alright." Phoebe grabbed her arm as she tried to head towards the gate, and the two girls exchanged a few words. Then Zoe seemed to get angry and Phoebe let out a huff. Zoe continued on her path towards the gate and Phoebe fell obediently, although reluctantly behind her.

Percy jogged down the stairs and motioned for the sentries to open the gates. They obeyed and the two girls walked in and joined Percy on the long walk back to his tent. When they got inside he immediately grabbed the Casualty Report and showed it to her. "That's the damage you caused to us, over something we didn't do. Half the Eighth was wiped out, do you know what I have to do now? I have to tell their parents that they died by the hands of Huntresses they thought were our friends."

"Exactly how do you I know it wasn't you?" He grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled on the sloppy black mop, using the pain to calm himself. "Zoe, why would I attack Diana? And if I did attack you, why would I only kill your sentries when I outnumber you almost 200:1? Huh? It doesn't make sense!"

She glared at him for a few moments, her hand twitching, wanting to make contact with his face for the way he talked to her, but she restrained herself. "Okay, I guess you're right, but if you didn't, then who did?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out, I'm sending out the Ninth Cohort tomorrow, mounted as scouts. If there is anyone withing 20 miles of this place, I'll know about it by Noon tomorrow, ask Diana to come here tomorrow right around then, and I'll tell you what I know. Assuming you can convince her I'm telling the truth..."

Zoe nodded, and Phoebe basically just glared at him suspiciously the whole time.

**(A/N)- Hey guys I'm back, and I'm gonna try to re-write this story, cause I fell like I screwed it up a bit, feel free to let me know what you guys think in Reviews, they keep me writing and they make the chapters better. So good to be writing again...**


	2. Just Another Scared Girl

Percy woke up the next morning to the sound of battle.

He grabbed his Gladius and ran outside the tent, he grabbed Lewis, who was standing at attention by the Legion's Eagle, by the shoulders. "Sound recall, get a perimeter around the Eagle." He moved from there to help the few Legionaries on the walls.

When he got there he was surprised to find only a few of his legionaries still fighting. Exactly who they were fighting, he couldn't tell, they were massively built men, most at least six feet tall, and painted in large blue swirls all over their bodies. Only reason he could tell was because some were almost completely naked.

They whirled these massive two handed axes, slamming them into the legionaries shields, shattering them in only a couple of hits.

Percy charged one, stabbing him through the side of his chest, driving it all the way through him and withdrawing his sword almost as quickly. The young legionary who had been fighting him fell in line behind him. Percy started helping the remaining wall defense force repel the attackers, but he knew it was useless. There were way too many for the dozen or so legionaries he had here.

"Fall back to the Eagle!" With that most of the legionaries booked it towards their comrades half way across camp. The strange blue men didn't follow though, they stayed back, a few even retreated.

When they got back, Percy made his way back to Aero and Alexis, his Senior Centurions and got the remaining men off the walls and in formation around the Eagle. "You guys know who they are?" He asked with his arms folded over his chest. Aero shook his head, but Alexis stepped forward. "They're the painted ones, Picts. They have a... history, of fighting Rome. I guess they are back."

"Aero, mount up the Ninth, send them to scout for their camp, I want to know where it is and how many of them there are. Alexis, re-establish the perimeter and re man the walls, double watch." They both saluted him and left to perform their duties.

"Signifer? Get me a messenger." Percy walked into the public part of his tent, the place where he issued orders, read reports, and met with his Senior Centurions.

One of the legion's runner boys, usually younger Demigods who weren't fit for swinging a sword yet, walked into the tent. A small blond boy, with blue eyes. "Take a message to Zoe Nightshade, tell her we've been attacked and that she needs to be on the lookout, and should probably come into camp. I don't know what exactly we're dealing with, but these guys don't look like the type to go down after a couple arrows."

If these guys could push his legionaries off of the ramparts? Smash their shields? Diana wasn't safe, and her Huntresses certainly weren't. 'I hope you listen to me Diana, if you don't, it could be your last mistake...'

–- Time Skip -

"Mi'Lady! You have to hear me out!"

"No I don't Zoe, he's a boy, how do I possibly trust him? How could you?" Artemis and Zoe were still in the tent, fighting over what to do, the rest of the Huntresses could hear them, it felt something like watching your parents fight over something.

"I trust him because he's my brother!" Artemis stopped for a second, her eye's softening slightly. Then she sighed. "Fine, we do it your way, I'll meet him, but if he so much as looks at me the wrong way and I'll shove an arrow up his ass!"

Just then a small blond boy ran into camp, a few huntresses looked apprehensively at the boy, but most of them recognized him as one of the 15th's runners. He walked through camp without being stopped, and into Artemis' tent. "Percy wants you to know, the Legion has been attacked, the walls were almost overrun this morning by Picts, he wants you to come in to the camp until they figure out what they're gonna do."

Zoe cursed inside slightly, she'd only just convinced Artemis to meet Percy, but she almost certainly won't stay in the camp with him. But what she saw on Artemis' face scared her even more than having to argue with her. Artemis' faces was pale white, in her 14 year old form, she looked almost like any other scared little girl. "Artemis?" She looked at Zoe and nodded. "We're going to camp with the legion, get the girls ready, we leave in ten minutes, we're in so much danger right now, there's no time to argue, just pack, we're leaving."

Maybe Artemis didn't show it any more, but the other Huntresses could feel it as the walked through the forest to their destination. Something was wrong, and whatever it was, scared an Olympian Goddess.

These next few days were promising to be full of problems...

**(A/N)- Hey peeps, thanks for the support, I'm going to try my best to make this a good story, and I'm going to try to post as often as I can. Remember to leave a review, even if you don't have anything to critique me about. It all helps and inspires me to write more. Also, check out my girlfriends profile and a few of her stories if you've got a few minutes, she's a great writer!**


	3. Blue Painted Owl People

Perseus was in his tent, sitting at his desk, reading reports, as usual, when a very panicked looking legionary charged in, foregoing the usual formalities. He pointed towards the tent entrance and raggedly tried to speak. Percy stood and stopped him, letting him lean on him until he gained his breathe. "What did you see legionary?" The large black haired boy finally had the ability to answer. "They're here."

"Who?"

"The Painted Ones, and there are thousands!" Percy paled, "Get Alexis and Aero to the Main gate." he lightly shoved the legionary out the door and grabbed his Gladius, the Sword of Rome, and marched out the tent, and to the North.

When he arrived, Alexis and Aero were still missing, the legionaries that manned the walls stared grimly at the thousands of giant burly ax-men and swordsmen. As Percy arrived at the wall he could hear one of the Picts in the front speaking loudly to the others, in their guttural tongue. He finished his ovation, raising his hands in the air, hands splayed. The crowd of Picts erupted into a deep chant, sounding a lot like a large group of Axe and Sword wielding owls. "Who who who who who!" They chanted.

As Aero and Alexis were climbing the ramparts, Percy glanced back at them and saw their looks get grimmer and grimmer as the chanting became more defined. Then they all stopped suddenly and they started parting down the middle of their ranks. A man on a white stallion rode through their ranks and to the front, the man who had been speaking had bowed to him, then turned back to the crowd. "Cu-Chullain!" The chant had turned into.

Aero looked at Percy, his words betraying the grin he had. "There's a lot of them..." Alexis, however, showed her fear a bit more, clinging to Aero's arm and easing an arrow out of it's quiver. He whispered into her ear softly, so no one else could hear.

Percy put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, there definitely is. Call up the entire 3rd and 4th cohorts, as well as the 9th Ala." Percy stood there, watching the actions of the men before him.

Aero took Alexis away from the ramparts, they were the only two, not even Percy had been around, when the couple had helped the 15th fight the Picts. They remembered things about those wars that they really really wanted to forget. He held his emotions, she needed him to be strong.

He led her into their tent and sat her on their bed, wrapping her in his arms and whispering comfortingly.

After a few minutes of this, he laid her in the bed, she had cried herself out. She was tough, he knew that of course, but even she needed someone to be vulnerable in front of sometimes. He had admittedly shown his own vulnerable side to her several times in the past.

Percy was already growing tired of the group that stood before him and their preaching about how Rome had wronged them.

Finally after several minutes of preaching, the thin man who had been preaching and, by this point, was obviously some kind of figure of legend within their ranks, noticed the lazy look on Percy's face and grew furious.

"Do NOT ignore me when I talk to you Romanae SCUM!"

This did it for Percy. "I'll talk to you however I like, you've come into my territory, invaded my camp, killed MY legionaries, and you expect me to even give you the time of day? Well screw you!"

With that, Percy turned to walk away, but was interrupted by the man's response. "Then come fight me for your land, Romanae, come fight me and win, my men will walk away and leave you in peace, but if you lose? We kill you all..."

Percy thought about it for a second, he didn't seem like a very big man, not compared to his brethren, but when looked at the way he carried himself, a way that spoke of an experienced warrior, and the fact that he was a revered figure in a warrior race, gave Percy the impression that he would be a fierce opponent.

But in Percy's mind, he had confidence in his own capabilities as a warrior, and figured that, if he could beat the man, he would secure the safety of his Legion, which meant more to him than anything. Risking his life once more for his Legion, his family, wasn't that big of a deal. What scared wasn't the whole dying part, it was the part where his Legion was massacred by giant blue painted people.

"I will fight you, but I want your word on what matters most to you, that your men will hold to their bargain." Percy adjusted his sword belt after saying this, a little conscious of the fact that he had over a thousand lives depending on him.

The Pict looked surprised, he hadn't actually expected the Roman to accept his offer. "I will do this." He turned to his companion and said something in a tone that suggested an order. Then looked back at Percy, gesturing to himself, and struggling to speak complete and proper Latin. Something he hadn't had issues with earlier, which gave Percy the impression that the speeches were practiced and rehearsed. Meant to provoke him and arouse his men.

"I will swear upon our War God, that this will be so."

Percy nodded. "And I will swear to my War God that this will be so." The Picts eye's shone, men like him lived for fighting. "We meet here, any weapon, when the next Sun rises." Percy nodded and made a fair-well gesture. Despite his dislike for the Picts attack on them, he had to respect their honor in combat. They believed that dying with a blade in your chest was better than dying with words hanging on your tongue.

Percy had no doubt this would be a tough fight, but he had other things to worry about right now, like the defense of the camp, and what the Legion was to do if he DID die whilst fighting the Pict.

The Picts continued their rally, chanting like owls again after every brief ovation from their leaders. The sound of these burly men and their owl chanting would become a common sound in the Roman camp over the next few days.

**(A/N)- Hey guys, sorry about the wait, I'm going to probably slow down with my chapters in order to get you guys better content, so just be patient! XD Okay, so, if you have any free time when you're done with my story, make sure you check out my girlfriends profile (Links on my profile) and the profile of one of my friends and my favorite author on FanFiction- Anaklusmos14 and his works. If you like my stories, you will love his! Mine are modeled after his with my own Roman flare through and out ;)**


	4. Remember Roman

Percy strapped on his _lorica segmentata_, Roman legionaries armor. Not the fancy, single piece armor with gold and silver inscriptions that you see in movies, but simple overlapping steel plates tied securely together with thick lengths of leather that dug into your skin.

"Percy, are you sure this is the right choice?" If he beats you, they are going to slaughter us." Percy looked at her, a defensive tone creeping into his voice unintentionally. "Alexis, what would you have me do? Huh? They are probably going to anyway! The most we can do, is play for time."

She threw the report she had been reading across the room. It seemed like all three of them had become increasingly buried in paperwork over the last two days. Most of them were casualty reports, armory and kitchen inventories, and Scout reports.

Aero walked up behind her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and flattening out a map of the area. He pointed to the clearing that they were in, then swept his hand across the map. "There is no direction that we've found that will let us get out of the Picts little siege circle. From what I can tell, they won't come out of the forest and into the clearing, mainly cause the Apollo kids make them look like porcupines every time they step away from cover. Anyway, point being, we're practically blind as to our surroundings and what may be coming. I mean, why else would they wait? They could probably take us now."

Percy thought for a moment, then spoke. "Couldn't we call on some Giant Eagles? Get them in here and have them fly a couple of scouts around?" Aero dead panned. "Umm, I suppose, I honestly don't see why not, I'll contact Praetor Jason about sending us a few of his Eagles."

Percy strapped his sword, the symbol of Roman power, to his hip. "Well, lets get this fight over with..."

He walked with the pair to the main gate, ordering the guards to open the gate, then stepping out of the safety of his legions fortifications.

Percy stood alone in front of his legion, and waited for the Picts to finally emerge from the forest.

Bit it was just the one he had talked to, the one who had been riding the white stallion, that now walked forward. This didn't mean he hadn't brought friends, Percy was sure that most of the Pictish Army was just behind him in the woods.

He swung a massive two-handed axe with one hand as if it were a toy, a large square white shield, with nothing but a bunch of intricate green designs and a bronze boss on it.

Percy stepped a few paces forward, away from the gate.

The Pict charged forward with surprising speed, slamming the blade of his axe into Percy's shield, shattering the wooden supports Percy had had installed to help increase the effectiveness of his shield.

Percy jabbed at him with his sword, but he sensed the move and jumped backwards, out of reach.

Percy and the Pict circled each other, assessing each others stances, and weaponry. Percy glanced down at his shield, his arm was still numb from the impact. 'I can't take another shot like that.' He thought, moving his arm in small circles, trying to get felling to return.

After realizing that the longer he waited, the more time he gave Percy to recover, the Pict launched another lightning fast attack, Percy only had enough time to think 'I'm in trouble.' Before he was thrown into the fight of his life.

Zoe had been taking the lead, since Artemis seemed incredibly distracted over the last few hours. As they dodged patrols and skirted Pictish camps, her face continued to get paler. When they arrived at the clearing, they could see the North-West corner of the 15th's fort.

Zoe just about walked out into the clearing when she saw the North gate open, and a single man walk out. She glanced side-ways at Artemis and she her head. "Who is it?" Zoe asked her.

Artemis just looked down. "It's Percy."

Zoe looked back to her brother, muttering to herself about arrogant boys. Then a second figure appeared from the forest, wielding a massive axe. This one towering over Percy and swinging the axe with ease. Zoe cursed.

Artemis spoke. "He's engaged their best warrior in single combat, winning this would mean the Pics would have to give their dead brother a proper burial, which means they will wait even longer to attack, Percy's playing for time."

Zoe grunted. "What do we do?"

"We wait, if Percy wins, we follow him back through the camp gates."

"And if he doesn't?"

"We kill his opponent and hope the legion will let us in."

Percy quickly began to lose, after the second attack, his shield had basically become useless.

The Pict charged a third time, using his shield as an offensive weapon this time, slamming the side of the shield into his head. Percy crumbled, not unconscious, but severely injured, his sword flying backwards, blood filled his eyes and mouth, obscuring his vision and leaving a salty taste in his mouth.

He wiped the blood out of his eyes and was met face to face, inches apart, with the Pict, a dagger at his throat.

"Remember me in the afterlife Roman... Remember me as you wander your Fields of Asphodel. Cuchullain..." Before could slide the crude dagger across Percy's throat, two arrows buried themselves deep into his chest. He gasped, lurching sideways off of Percy's stomach and onto the ground next to him. Weezing horribly as one of the arrows had punctured his lung.

Percy just layed there in a daze of pain, he could vaguely hear some yelling and shouting, arrows being shot, a roar of outrage from the forest and then everything went black.

**(A/N): Hey guys, sorry about the delay, but here you go! If you enjoyed the chapter, please Favorite, Follow, and Review, they mean a lot to me, they show you care about my writing and makes me want to write more.**


	5. A New Plan

When Percy woke up, he was blinded by the sudden light. He tried to sit up, but he did so too quickly, and all the blood rush from his head.

He blacked out, and fell backwards.

When he came to, an instant later, Alexis was standing over him. This time, she helped him up, this time slowly, to prevent another black out.

She held a look of worry on her face, and kept glancing at the tent door.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as a Surgeon prepared some clothe to replace the bandage on his head.

"Aero's been leading the Legion since you've been out." Percy looked surprised. "Which was how long? Exactly?"

"Four days, if you count the day you were injured."

He sighed, he knew how difficult leading a full Legion could be. He just hoped that the young Centurion was up to the task.

He winced slightly as the old bandage was removed and the new one was applied. Then Alexis helped him put his armor on, which was still dented in several places from the battle with the Pict. Then he made his way out of the Surgeon's Quarters, and towards the Praetor's Quarter's.

As he walked through camp, he noticed several things. The first of which being the strong aroma of wood smoke. Normally this wouldn't bother, they cooked their meals in wood fires, but this was thicker than usual. He made a point of asking Aero about this.

Next thing he noticed was that almost every legionary looked tired, dirty, and battered. His Legion was on the brink of destruction. A few smiled at him, respectfully saluting him.

When Percy passed the grain and meat stores, he noticed that they were heavily guarded. He stopped. "Why are these guards here?" Alexis had a pained look. "The Eagles haven't been getting through very well. The Picts keep lighting fires, the thick black smoke keeps them from seeing where to drop the supply crates.

She didn't continue, she didn't need to, he understood now. They were running low on food.

And the guards were there to prevent stealing.

He continued on to the Praetor's tent.

When he saw Aero, he instantly felt bad. The kid was obviously way too stressed out. His blue, blood shot eye's, dark gray with the stress, dark eye bags, and sluggish movement, all told Percy that he was about to collapse.

Percy walked up to his desk and Aero stood from his scrolls, shoulders still slightly hunched in exhaustion, and formally saluted him.

"You are relieved of your command Senior Centurion Aero." Aero nodded. "Thank you sir." Then walked out of the tent, Percy got the feeling he sincerely meant the 'Thank you' part.

Percy turned to Alexis. "Make sure he gets a day or two in the infirmary." She nodded, and turned to leave, but Percy stopped her. "And if he argues, order him to, with my authority."

"Okay." She replied, then walked out of the tent.

As she exited the tent, his eyes immediately shut tight, his hands came up to his head, touching the already damp bandage on his head.

He could already feel his stress returning. He picked up the nearest folder and opening, he frowned. It was a map, but to where?

Aero had obviously been up to something, he must have had a plan. But why hadn't he told Percy of his plan?

He closed the folder and set it off to the side, making a mental note to ask Aero about the map.

He picked up the next report, a casualty report. These seemed to be on his desk more and more often as of recently. He's lost more men, some were even deserting! This had to be fixed, Percy had seen signs of low morale before. And low morale was something that only got worse if it wasn't handled quickly.

As he reached the bottom of the list, his head began throbbing again and he gritted his teeth. The body count kept climbing in his head. Every Roman on that list, marked as 'Killed In Action' was his fault. It was his responsibility to keep them safe. And now he had to explain to their mortal parents how he had failed that promise.

He wanted to throw up. Simple as that, and the fact that his head was still in rough shape from the fight, didn't help.

He put the report down and sighed, sick of the reports already. "Well," he muttered "if I'm not going to go though my paperwork, I should at least get some answers." He stood and waited for a moment, letting the dizziness pass. Then set out in search of Aero, and Alexis, who would almost certainly be with Aero.

She was unsurprisingly with Aero, as he had expected.

"Alexis, Aero, I need to talk to you two."They each to him and gave him their attention.

"Aero," he began, placing the map on his lap. "what is this?" Aero's face reddened. "Just a hunch really. During the Revolutionary War, there was a fort built in this area, it supposedly had stone walls, and many cannons. Well, when the Brit's left, it was abandoned."

Percy's eye's lit up. "If we could find this fort, we could Winter there, the Eagles would have better cover for resupply." Aero grinned. "So we have a plan?" Alexis answered this time. "You can't be serious! We don't even know if this place exists! Let alone if it's still defensible!"

Aero's grin faded, and Percy crossed his arms. "Do we have a choice? If we stay here, we'll either starve to death or be stabbed to death."

"And we still might Mr. Optimism!" She retorted.

Aero finished Percy's thought. "It's a chance Ally." he said, using her pet name. "If we don't, we're done, we can't beat them in a straight up fight, at least not without Jason and Reyna's 12th backing us up, and especially not without proper food supplies."

She nodded her head slowly, accepting the fact that they were betting their lives on something less than a myth.

"Okay, fine, lets do it..."

** (A/N)- Sorry about the delay guys, it's getting harder and harder to find time to write, but I have NOT abandoned this story, and I will not. I just have a busy life XD Anyway, thanks for reading, make sure you leave a review and favorite/follow it makes me want to write more. Also, I can't do longer chapters, I'm sorry, but life is too busy.**


	6. Taking Care of Business

Percy could hear the long mournful notes of the Signifers horn as he walked quickly towards their camps Field of Mars. Aero and Alexis following behind him closely, the sounds of a gathering Legion bouncing throughout the camp, ringing in the ears of every legionary.

Percy and the two Senior of his many Brothers and Sisters mounted the short stage that they used to inform the Legion of events, and decisions, just as the last Cohort attained their position in formation.

Percy began;

"Romans, shit has hit the fan, and the Senior Centurions and I feel that it is best to break camp under the cover of darkness, and move North, to an abandoned fort for protection. If we can get there, it will make resupply easier, then we can hold out through Winter, until Praetor's Jason and Reyna can arrive with the 12th to back up an attack on the Picts."

He shifted on the stage, suddenly very aware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes that were glued to his every movement, and the equally impressive number of ears that took in every word he said. He continued. "For now, pack your belongings. Bring only what is absolutely necessary, everything else will be left behind." He waited a minute before dismissing them, to let the info sink in.

Percy walked off the stage and towards the 8th Cohorts barracks, he had business with their Centurion.

The 8th Cohort had lost 61 legionaries, including it's Primus Pilus, and one of it's Centurion's in Diana's ambush, and then another 24 in the skirmish with the Picts about a week ago.

It was down to just 15 capable fighter's.

As he entered their barracks, they all came to attention, but Percy didn't waste a moment in putting them at ease.

Centurion Chance Bailey was their leader, a quiet kid from a Virginia Boarding School, a Son of Venus with an attitude that had gotten him into trouble several times despite his rank.

"Centurion Bailey?"Percy asked, looking around at the legionaries in the tent.

A young girl, maybe 14 and slim, with the mark of Ceres upon her arm, stepped forward. "He's in the back room Sir." She said, pointing towards a door in the back of the barracks.

Percy smiled at her and nodded his thanks. Before opening the door and entering the Son of Venus' 'Office', so to speak.

Technically, Centurions didn't get offices, they slept in the same bunks as the men underneath them, eat the same food as those underneath them, and wore the same armor. They did this for a reason, so the legionaries would grow attached to their Centurion's and respect them.

The demigod didn't look up from whatever documents he was reading. "Who said you could enter my office legionary? I'm busy, I don't have time to babysit you piss-pots."

Percy lunged forward, balling up the young legionaries shirt in his fists. "That is not how you talk to your legionaries, and that is certainly not how you talk to me. Do I make myself clear?" The Centurion was still stunned by the appearance of Percy in his 'Office', and even more so by his furious behavior, he failed to respond.

Percy threw him back against the wall and leaned down, his face inches from Chance's. "Do I make myself clear?" This time he said it slowly, dangerously, as if to a small child who had stolen a cookie from the cookie jar, and this time, the terrified boy answered. "Yes Sir!"

"Good, you are no longer a Centurion, you are a legionary pay grade one. Now get out of here." Percy ripped the Centurion's badges from his shoulders and let the deep red cape fall from the boy's shoulders, then he picked him up to his feet, and shoved him out the door.

Then he walked back out into the main room of the barracks, and past the crying ex-Centurion. And walking up to the girl who had assisted him when had initially entered the Barracks hut, he slung the cape around her shoulders and pressed the Centurion's badges into her small hands.

Then turned to the door, ignoring the confused looks of her and her comrades, then, stopping inside the doorway, he turned back to her. "I expect to see you in my office by 1900 hours tonight, Centurion."

The confused look on their faces faded as he left, and they began to understand exactly what had happened.

Percy returned to his tent, he had a letter to send.

The 12th Legion Fulminata has been on yellow alert for the last 3 days. Which basically means, all essential personnel must be ready to march within 30 minutes at all times.

Jason and Reyna had been personally sending scouting Eagles and resupply Eagles to the 15th over the last week. They would come back with personal letters from legionaries in the 15th to their families in New Rome. As well as letters containing combat readiness reports from Percy. Each day, his situation grows worse, and they both know it.

And now they had just received news that he was going to try to move his entire Legion past Picts who outnumber him 4:1 at best, to a mythical fortress in the middle of nowhere.

It had been hard enough as it was to keep the Senate from writing the Legion off as 'Destroyed' and ending their resupply and rescue mission without Percy's crazy plan, but now, it was going to be near impossible.

Most of the Senate leaned towards Octavian's point of view, but their Praetor's Veto's keep blocking their votes, but that only works if less than a 2/3 majority is reached.

Rome must be defended at all costs, and if that meant sacrificing the lives of 1,000 young Roman's, then that's what it costs.

Jason and Reyna both knew very well that it wasn't the Senate and People of Rome that Octavian was worried about, it was only Octavian that Octavian was worried about.

And somehow, he got it through his mind that a half strength Legion and some Evocati were going to defeat an army that a full strength Legion, with almost 1,000 demigods in it, couldn't.

And even if they did find a way to defeat these Picts, what of Perseus and the 15th? They couldn't possibly leave their fellow Roman's to be slaughtered while they thought only of themselves!

Percy would have to pull off a miracle, if Jason and her were going to convince the Senate to continue to support his Legion with food, water, and weapons at tomorrow's Senate meeting.


End file.
